Evolution. It's for the birds.

Review: Casting Off

I feel so sorry for everyone who gave negative reviews for Wool and stopped reading. They have deprived themselves of hidden depths.

The tension in Casting Off is immense. From the opening scene of someone about to head out to ‘clean’, to the nail-biting cliffhanger finish, this story refused to let me go.

At its most superficial, the story appears to return to the dilemma of Wool: the truth or lies behind why someone would volunteer to go outside and clean, or, having been sentenced to do so, would still clean in the face of their imminent death.

But this story is anything but superficial. Howey is telling a story with multiple hidden depths. He is a master at drip-feeding just the right information at the right time. I thought I understood in Wool why he became a sensation but I was soooo wrong. This exploration into human behaviour, whether we can learn from the past or are doomed to repeat it, whether anyone has the courage and foresight to ‘do the right thing’. This is his sensational book. Definitely my favorite so far!

And hey, we all love seeing IT as the bad guys don’t we? Come on. We think it every day.